The bookie's bane

[From Cnn.com]

Irish bookie pays out as cops bust 'wrong' Gore

DUBLIN, Ireland (Reuters) -- An Irish bookmaker who offered 14-to-1 odds that Al Gore would be the next high-profile American to be arrested paid out on Friday after police detained the former vice president's son, also named Al.

Al Gore III appears with his parents, Al and Tipper Gore.

Having not specified which Al bettors could back, Paddy Power said some of the 50 or so people who placed money on the rank outsider being arrested had been quick to claim their winnings.

"We got a good stoning thanks to the vice president's son," the company said in a statement.

The "bizarre coincidence" would cost it more than $13,600.

Al Gore III, 24, was stopped for speeding on Wednesday and arrested for drug possession after a sheriff's deputy smelled marijuana and searched his car.

Paddy Power, which is well known in Ireland for wacky publicity stunts and for offering bizarre and sometimes controversial bets, offered odds on July 3 that had made Paris Hilton the 2-to-1 favorite to be arrested.

It had ranked President Bush and Bill Gates among the outsiders on odds of 33-to-1 and 50-to-1 respectively.